Frugal Shopper: If I buy store brand, am I sacrificing quality?

Our new series, Frugal Shopper with Rachel Turner, brings you tips for paying less and getting more at the grocery store. You know you don’t have the time to go to 37 different grocery stores to find the best price for cheddar cheese, and so does Rachel. She does the price matching for you. Just print out your list from www.pricematchwithrachel.com (or pull it up on your smartphone) and tell the checker what’s up. Grocery store shopping has never been so easy!

Invariably, no! Everyone knows that store brands are cheaper, but not everyone knows that in many cases, they are just as good as their high-priced, highly-commercialized competitors. For this reason, store brands are great for price-matching. Where do stores get their store brand items, anyway? Do grocery stores have huge ice cream factories? Nope. They buy from the brand name companies and put on their labels. The secret is out. Your store brand ketchup may very well share the same recipe as the name-brand ketchup. Try a blind taste-test. For this reason, all the name-brand buyers out there can breathe easier knowing that they can price match store brand and not necessarily sacrifice quality.

Store brand is already cheaper, but when you price match store brand, it’s even better!

Although buying store brand is usually less taxing on the wallet, it’s important to consider whether you are getting the same value. If you are getting about the same value, then always go with store brand. Even when you have a coupon in hand for a name brand item, usually you will still save more money with store brand. Many grocery stores will put their store brands on sale when there’s a coupon for the comparable name brand goods, and when that happens, the cheap gets cheaper! When you price match store brand, you’re striking gold.

People tend to be the more picky about health and beauty products. For this reason many prefer to pay a little more. You can still save some with a coupon and a price match. To use a coupon and price match, tell the cashier where the item is on sale. Let them discount the item and then hand them the corresponding coupon. This method will save you the most money. Don’t have another coupon, but want more of the same item? Simply price match the rest! You can never price match too many items. It’s like having hundreds of coupons in your pocket.

Not sure if your item is available to price match?

On my site, pricematchwithrachel.com, shoppers can find items with ease and save money without any of the research work or coupon clipping. Log on today and see how much I can help you save!

Rachel Turner is the founder and owner of www.pricematchwithrachel.com , where her savvy skills can help you save money on your groceries. This self-taught, New York-born-and-bred mother of two loves saving time and money—and it kills her to see you missing out saving time and money! That’s how she became that woman you met in the Walmart juice aisle who told you to save a few by letting the cashier know how much that apple juice is on sale for at that other grocery store.